We tend to believe that the great players today, with their superior training and supersonic equipment, are eons beyond the great players of even a couple of generations back. Of course Roger Federer is better on grass than Bjorn Borg ever was. Of course Rafael Nadal would have blown Thomas Muster out at Roland Garros.

But it's good to be reminded that we shouldn't let ourselves define tennis history through what we're seeing on our TV screens right now. A case in point: Gustavo Kuerten, just elected to the Tennis Hall of Fame this week, denied Federer a calendar-year Grand Slam in 2004 when he beat him at Roland Garros. Federer was at the peak of his powers -- the world number one and the winner of two Grand Slam titles. But an aging, gimpy Kuerten schooled him in claycourt tennis.

Great players are great players, regardless of the era. Welcome to the Hall of Fame, Guga.